[Podcast] Big Oil’s Great Plastic Recycling Scam
Learn the fascinating story of how Big Oil made us all believe plastic recycling would save the planet – and why it’s all a lie…
In recent years, the dirty underbelly of plastic recycling has been exposed – and the truth is becoming clear: recycling – once touted as the saving grace of plastic usage, enabling us to buy and dispose of plastics with impunity – is not the panacea we have been led to believe.
The problem is not a new one, but once China stopped accepting boatloads of American trash in 2018, things came to a head, with thousands of recycling facilities throughout the country throwing millions of tons of plastics into the landfill – exactly where we always thought we were keeping plastic out of by putting it in the recycling bin!
So how did this lie come to be so widely accepted as truth by the American public? While it may sound strange at first, much of the messaging about recycling came from the big oil companies.
Huh? Big Oil wants us to recycle?
Not exactly…
Big Oil wants us to THINK we’re recycling! This misconception gives us the freedom to keep on buying (and throwing away) all their plastic products, without feeling guilty about it.
When plastic pollution first came into the public eye a couple of decades ago, the big oil companies knew they had to do something fast, or consumers would start questioning the rampant use of plastic, and perhaps begin taking steps to curb their plastic usage. How to keep us consuming more and more plastic? Make us feel good about ourselves and believe we are solving the problem by recycling our plastics!
But the truth is, most of these plastics aren’t – and never were – being recycled. SOME are, but most types of plastic, while theoretically recyclable, are simply too costly or difficult to recycle into new, usable products.
This fascinating podcast reveals more about how the American public has been bamboozled by the great recycling scam, and how a few companies are trying to change things:
